The Colt Communicator

November 1, 2024

Dear North Barrington Families,

Thank you for another great week at NBS! Thank you to all our wonderful volunteers who hosted our amazing Halloween Parties! We had a great time celebrating with our friends and the parade was perfect! We hope that you have a great long weekend and we look forward to everyone returning on Wednesday, November 6th. Please enjoy some great photos below.

Thank you Miss Schaub and our amazing second graders who entertained us in costume as well as in song this week at their concert. It was wonderful to have you join us for this event. The children were all smiles and my hope is you enjoyed yourself as well. BRAVO!

We are looking forward to learning about our new Character Strong trait of Gratitude this month. Please see the button below to read the family connection newsletter. Additionally, thank you for helping us continue to support our health and well-being through our Mystery Reader. If you would like to bring a different book than what we have provided, please make sure it is about Gratitude. If it not, please make sure the classroom teacher knows the title of the book prior to your visit.

Thank you to Jackie Kardesh for your dedication to our Pumpkin Decorating Contest. The pumpkins look great and we love the way families work together to create these works of art. All visitors love stopping and taking a look at the talent in our school community. You can pick up your pumpkin this weekend.

REMINDERS:

Parent Drop off After 8:00 am: As you are aware, we are making strides in improving our attendance at NBS. A vital part of this is punctuality. Our second bell rings promptly at 8:00 am, and your child must be in their classroom to be considered on time. If you arrive at or after 8:00 am, please park your car, escort your child or children into the office, and sign them in. They will then receive a welcome pass and be directed to their class. Please remember, it is not safe to drop your child off at the curb or front door at or after 8:00 am and leave them unsupervised. Rest assured, we have measures in place to ensure their safety. We appreciate your understanding and support in this matter!

MEDICAL/DENTAL EXCUSAL:

If your child leaves school for a medical/dental appointment an excuse note from the healthcare provider is required for the absence to be excused. Please return the note to the building office staff following the appointment. Thank you!

Dr. West, Principal, Mrs. Kalin Lomas, and Mrs. Lisa Neyfeldt, Co-PTO Presidents

Please note that you can reach Dr. West, Principal, at lwest@barrington220.org, Mrs. Jirasek, Assistant Principal/TOSA, at sjirasek@barrington220.org, Mrs. Kalin Lomas, co-PTO president, at kalin413@gmail.com, and Lisa Neyfeldt, co-PTO president, at lneyfeldt03@gmail.com. We would love to connect with you! Our joint newsletter will be distributed through Infinite Campus on Fridays at 3:00 pm.

Social Media:

Instagram: northbarringtonpto

Facebook: North Barrington School PTO (run by the PTO) & North Barrington Elementary School (run by the school)

Twitter: @NBSPTO (run by the PTO), @NBES220 (run by the school) & @law281 (Dr. Wests’ account)

Thank you to our school community, our students, our families, and our staff. We have received our 2024 Summative Designation from the Illinois State Board of Education. I am proud to share that we are rated as an EXEMPLARY school for the third year in a row. I continue to be humbled by the incredible work we do at NBS. This is a celebration for us all! Congratulations everyone! NBS #ThePlacetoB

Every year our PTO and student council invite local veterans and first responders who serve NBS to school so we can thank them for their service. The entire school gathers in the gym for a ceremony to celebrate our heroes and then we offer them breakfast.

Our Heroes Breakfast will take place on Thursday, November 7th. The PTO is looking for help to make the breakfast a success. If you'd like to contribute in thanking our local heroes, you can use this link to sign up and bring in items or help with set-up and tear down. We ask that all donations be brought to school by November 6th or by 8:00am on November 7th at the latest. If you'd like to donate funds to help us purchase hot food (eggs, bacon, etc), please use this link to donate.

In addition to the breakfast, we will be honoring the heroes of students during a slideshow that will be playing during the ceremony. If your family has a hero they'd like to feature, please use this form to submit the information no later than Saturday, November 2 (tomorrow).

On November 7, please encourage your child to wear red, white and blue, to show our patriotic pride for our heroes!

In honor of our heroes, we are requesting that students wear red, white, and blue to school on November 7th for our Heroes' Day ceremony.

Kids in our community need your support! Every year NBS takes part in collecting items for Barrington Giving Day - a nonprofit organization to help support underserved children in our community. Each D220 school will be collecting different items to help kids in need. NBS will be collecting new blankets. Starting November 1, there will be a drop box at the main entrance. You may drop off blankets until December 6. To learn more about the organization, visit their website HERE.

Barrington Children's Charities hosts Packs of Plenty (POP) every Thursday at Sunny Hill Elementary School, and we’re looking for NBS parents to help!

What do you do? Show up at Sunny Hill from 9:00-9:45am on a Thursday and join several other Barrington community members to pack food bags for students from under-resourced homes in Barrington. After packing food, one NBS volunteer drives the food to the front office at NBS so food can be passed out to students for the weekend.

It’s a great way to meet others and help kids in our community! Grab a friend and choose a day or to show up!

If you would like to sign-up to be a NBS volunteer, sign up HERE. If you have any questions or would like to be a permanent NBS volunteer for this program, please contact Ashley Samz at AshleySamzPTO@gmail.com or (847) 644-9163 (call/text).

We are excited to be offering a STEM Club at North Barrington this year! There will two sessions of STEM Club for 4th & 5th grade students. Please sign up for one of the sessions to allow for maximum participation! Stay tuned for 2nd & 3rd grade sessions in the winter! There is no charge for this club and each session is limited to 24 participants.

Session 1: Nov 11, 18, 25, 2:40-3:30 PM

Session 2: Dec 6, 13, 20, 2:40-3:30 PM

Click here to sign up!

Reach out to Mrs. Weldzius with any questions - nweldzius@barrington220.org.

Fall has fallen upon us at NBS! We love the change in seasons and I am sending a reminder to all our families to make sure your Colt has the proper layers for the temperature change. We have recess daily and students also go outside for PE classes from time to time. Thank you for checking to make sure your children are dressed appropriately long pants, hats, gloves, sweatshirt, or a coat.

ATTENTION 2ND GRADE PARENTS:

Hello! We are forming a new 2nd Grade Brownie Troop at North Barrington Elementary. The Troop is open to girls currently in 2nd Grade at NBS.

Troop 1794 will meet every other Sunday from 3-4:30pm. We are still scouting a location so more details to come. We hope to have our first meeting in early November.

If your child is interested in joining Brownies, or if you just want to learn more, please fill in this form:

Troop 1794 Interest Form

We are excited for a fun year ahead!

Your Troop Leaders,

Anna Moore, Claudia Free and Shannon Melton

ATTENTION KINDERGARTEN AND 1 ST GRADE PARENTS:

We are looking for leaders to help start a Daisy Troop for Kindergarten and/or First Grade. We currently have one interested parent and would need 1-2 more to start another new troop at NBS! The schedule is flexible to the leaders.

Please reach out to Laura Canale (lglombowski@hotmail.com or 847.721.8761) for any questions or to come and observe a meeting.

This fall Barrington 220 is launching a book study called One Book, One Community Read! The book study, hosted by our District Equity Team, aligns with the Inclusive Education priority in our district’s strategic plan, Framework 220.

The book study will feature the book Breaking the Code with Gabriella, written by current BHS students Hafsah Khan, Cindy Wang, and 2024 graduate Sarah Pinto. BTCWG is a story about the fight for inclusivity and belonging in STEM spaces, following the story of a young girl, Gabriella, who joins her robotics team as the only girl.

You can pick up a free copy of Breaking the Code with Gabriella in the front office. Supplies are limited, so be sure to grab one while they last! For additional copies, visit the Barrington Area Library or the District Administrative Center.

We will culminate this community-wide read with a special fireside chat featuring our student authors at the annual Winter Wonderfest celebration at BHS on December 13! It will be a wonderful opportunity to engage with the authors, hear their perspectives, and celebrate the inclusive themes of the book.

The lost & found racks are overflowing! Please encourage your student to peruse the racks for possible missing items. We highly recommend writing your student's name on their items whenever possible.

Doctor’s Note Required for Medical Absences

Due to a change in school code by the Illinois State Board of Education, this school year a medical note is required for parents/guardians who select the: “MEDUE: Medical/Dental Appointment” excuse option for their student in Infinite Campus or call their student out of school for a medical/dental appointment.

The revised school code defines "valid cause" for absence as the following: Illness, including the mental or behavioral health of the student; attendance at a verified medical or therapeutic appointment; appointment with a victim services provider. Please note that the student’s absence will be marked unexcused in Infinite Campus until a medical note is provided.

We understand this is a change in practice from previous years. Please know that our front office is here to help answer any questions or concerns you may have.

ALLERGIES:

At North Barrington, we continually focus on safety. Part of those safety procedures is allergy awareness. We want to begin the year by reminding all our families that sending group snacks or lunches to the classroom is not allowed. This includes birthday treats, trinkets, balloons, and candy.

Children can bring individual snacks to eat during their snack time and their classroom teacher will share information with you about snack. Sharing any extra foods is not part of our approved procedures and is a safety risk to our friends who have an allergy. If there is a Colt Pride celebration, teachers will work with administration and the school nurse and access the approved food list as well as notify families of students with allergies. Please do not bring or send snacks for the entire class.

PARTIES:

Our parties will have food from the approved list, and the room coordinators will work with the administration, classroom teachers, and the PTO to ensure safety.

NBS will have two parties and end-of-year events.

Our first party is on October 31, 2024, from 1:30 - 2:30, with dismissal at 2:40.

We will also have a Kindness (Valentine) Party this year. Based on input from our families and staff, we are switching to February from December. This change will give students more opportunity to celebrate with their classmates due to any possible travel during December.

Our February Kindness party will be on Thursday, February 13th from 1:30 to 2:30.

More information about our parties will be shared with Room Coordinators.